Why ‘Hybrid Working’ isn’t one size fits all!
A year on from our formal adoption of hybrid working, a Google search for the term returned 13 million hits! I think it’s fair to say it’s been a talking point for quite some time and depending on who you listen to, can be anything from Utopia to hell on earth.
One of the most frustrating things about the countless publications on hybrid working are the many assumptions made. We talk about hybrid like it is a one size fits all; as though every business is the same and every worker wants it. But scratch the surface and you soon uncover some home truths.
Generation Z
As an employer with 55% of our workforce under 30, the age demographic can’t be ignored. With many people still living at home or house sharing, often people’s environment is unsuitable for home working. Research also tells us that Generation Z in particular are looking for ‘in person’ work opportunities feeling they are otherwise missing out on social interaction, informal learning opportunities and support from their colleagues. These are so important at any point in your career. There is also the feeling that longer term, hybrid working could have a detrimental effect on promotion opportunities.
Your customers & services
Another key component for us here at Solvd. is the type of work we do and the customers we serve. As a live customer operation from 7am to 10pm, 7 days a week, our hybrid trials showed these services to be much more effectively delivered in the office environment. And for the other parts of our business, whilst some things such as routine processing lend themselves to people working individually, there are many more that require collaboration and creativity and benefit from people physically being together.
Organisational Culture
Here at Solvd. our Organisational Culture is very important to us and with a staff engagement score of 89% we must be doing something right!
Leaders and Managers being present and available to staff is fundamental to our culture and the invisibility afforded by a majority home working model just doesn’t cut it.
Organisations where people have a strong attachment to their workplace generally have more positive engagement scores and we believe that spending time in the physical workplace is key for everyone. How else can you really expect to build any workplace ties?
What have we learned?
When it comes to hybrid there is no perfect answer - there really is no one size fits all, so here are a few of the key learning points from our hybrid journey.
Understand your customers and your services and find an approach that suits your organisation’s needs.
Build in Team ‘anchor days’ to your hybrid offering. People benefit from being together as a team.
Blend your comms. Whilst electronic communication meets many day-to-day needs, invest in physical updates for managers and all team briefings.
Revisit your Learning & Development approaches to ensure they still work in a hybrid world.
Understand that hybrid won’t be for everyone and support those that relish the ‘in person’ workplace.
Be mindful of certain needs. The flexibility afforded by Hybrid working can be stressful for people who are neurodiverse.
Don’t under-estimate the need for social interaction and the positive impact this has on people’s mental health.
Where hybrid isn’t an option, address the need for occasional flexibility in other ways.
Create collaborative spaces for people to meet. In a hybrid world less physical office time will be spent at a desk.
And lastly keep evolving; learn as you go and adapt to change. The world doesn’t stand still for long.